# @nasa on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/C4zGzr0t_Lq
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/12666481-nasa-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/f01d96df96.jpg
- **Posted:** 2024-03-22T01:44:18.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** NASA (@NASA) — https://gondola.cc/NASA

## Caption

Mon chéri, Charon 🥐⁣
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Charon and Pluto are planetary besties – or sometimes referred to as a double dwarf planet system. Charon is the largest of Pluto’s five moons – Charon is 754 miles (1,214 km) across, and Pluto is about 1,400 miles wide. The distance between them is 12,200 miles (19,640 km).⁣
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At half the size of Pluto, Charon is the largest known satellite relative to its parent body. The same surfaces of Charon and Pluto always face each other, a phenomenon called mutual tidal locking.⁣
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NASASolarsystem’s New Horizons spacecraft captured this high-resolution enhanced color view of Charon just before the spacecraft made its closest approach to Pluto on July 14, 2015.⁣

Image Description: Pluto’s moon Charon is pictured in the center of the image. The moon is mostly grey, with a reddish north (top) polar region. Impact craters scatter the surface of the moon, and a ridge divides the top half from the bottom half diagonally.⁣
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Credit: Credits: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute⁣
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#NASA #NewHorizons #Spacecraft #Pluto #SolarSystem #Moon #Charon #Space

## Stats

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## Tags

nasa, charon, space, pluto, moon, spacecraft, newhorizons, solarsystem

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